Jeff Greenberg, MD, is the medical director of the Innovation Hub at Brigham & Women’s Hospital. He also practices medicine part-time at a patient-centered medical home.
"It is entirely possible to innovate at an academic medical center. In fact, innovation is core to the purpose of many AMCs, which have been at the center of healthcare innovation for centuries. My own institution, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, performed the first kidney transplant and the first face transplant in the U.S. It and its peer institutions around the country have generated discoveries and inventions in basic science, clinical and translational research and in health care delivery. So it is more than possible; it is often essential. AMCs have cultures of discovery and innovation, a great deal of talent in clinical and non-clinical employees and, most importantly, patients. Patients are critical to pushing clinical innovation forward. AMCs excel at engaging patients in testing new ideas, through clinical trials, experimental procedures and care redesign efforts."